The solar panels will be populated with Emcore’s ZTJ multijunction solar cells, the highest-performance space-grade solar cells available in volume production on the global market. Production of the solar cells and panels will take place at the company’s Albuquerque manufacturing facilities.

Emcore’s multijunction solar cells deliver a beginning-of-life conversion efficiency nearing 30 percent, with the option for a patented, onboard monolithic bypass diode. The solar cells provide the highest power available to interplanetary spacecraft and Earth-orbiting satellites, according to the company.

Emcore provides compound semiconductor-based components and subsystems for the fiber optic and solar power markets.

The technology of generating and harnessing light and other forms of radiant energy whose quantum unit is the photon. The science includes light emission, transmission, deflection, amplification and detection by optical components and instruments, lasers and other light sources, fiber optics, electro-optical instrumentation, related hardware and electronics, and sophisticated systems. The range of applications of photonics extends from energy generation to detection to communications and...